The present invention relates to the general area of electronic systems for displaying images in general, and more particularly to those intended to be coupled with ultrasound imaging equipment capable of capturing an image of a medium.
In general, such electronic display systems comprise a monitor to display the ultrasound image such as captured by the ultrasound imaging equipment. These electronic display systems comprise image processing means, or are connected to processing means.
Such electronic display systems are known to persons skilled in the art, for example through documents U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,063,030, 6,468,212 and 7,022,075.
These patent documents describe display systems comprising a single viewing monitor. This single monitor defines a display space which is shared by the ultrasound image and by the graphical elements used to perform processing of the ultrasound image.
The major drawback with these electronic display systems is that it is necessary to reduce the size of the ultrasound image displayed in full-screen format, either by changing the scale of or by cropping the image, so that it is possible to display the graphical elements used to perform processing of the displayed ultrasound image.
It is therefore not possible to maintain the entirety of the displayed image or to maintain maximum resolution for this image.
Yet, in the area of ultrasound imaging, it has come to be considered as being particularly helpful to have the entirety of the image displayed with the best acquired resolution in order to detect any biological anomalies and/or to identify position relative to the entirety of the image such as taken.
This is why numerous systems also offer the use of a touch-screen monitor used solely to conduct image processing, but whose effect can only be seen on the main display monitor. This effectively guarantees good image quality, but compels the user to give attention simultaneously to two monitors, which in the setting of a medical examination is hardly feasible or acceptable.
More broadly, in this area, it is also desirable to achieve maximum simplification of the user interface for ultrasound image display and processing systems. The ultrasound equipment and its display system are generally operated by medical staff that appreciate user-friendly tools with fast and easy access.